Longtime Partner Gamebase Revealed As Gamebryo Buyer

Gamebryo engine maker Emergent's buyer is revealed to be Korea-based Gamebase, one of the company's longtime partners. Specifically, Gamebase is buying the company's assets and technology, creating a newly-capitalized U.S. company.

Former Emergent sales VP David Brame will become president of the new group, and former CEO Scott Johnson said in a statement to media he promised to keep existing Gamebryo and Lightspeed licensees apprised of what to expect in the transition.

"Our first goal is to focus on the company’s roots - working closely with customers and providing excellent customer service," said GameBase head J.Y. Park. "This is one of the key reasons why Gamebryo evolved into such a popular development engine."

Adds Brame: "Over the next few weeks we will be actively communicating with Gamebryo developers around the world to update them on our future plans and activities. Scott Johnson, the former CEO of Emergent, has worked diligently to ensure a positive transition of ownership and has kept the best interests of the Gamebryo community at the forefront during the entire acquisition process."

Gamebryo announced back in November that it had put its assets up for sale. The company was additionally affected by serious financial difficulties and studio closures within Australia's Krome Studios, with which it had a major tech partnership.

The company was founded in 2005, and raised over $40 million in venture capital. But it has lost over $30 million through 2009, despite apparently showing a small profit so far this year. However, the Gamebryo technology has existed since 2003, under the purview of tech company NDL -- of which Brame is also a veteran -- and Gamebase has been the tech's distributor in Asia and Australia since then.

It claims its engine has been used in almost 300 titles to date, including Bethesda's Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, although when Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it made a point of noting that it had dropped the Gamebryo engine, claiming to be developing with "all-new" tech.

Gamebryo was also used in the development of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Civilization Revolution, Speed, Divinity II – Ego Draconis and Bully.